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American racing driver From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zachary E. Veach (born December 9, 1994) is an American auto racing driver.
| Zach Veach | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) Veach at the 2018 ABC Supply 500 | |||||||
| Nationality |  American | ||||||
| Born | December 9, 1994 Stockdale, Ohio, U.S. | ||||||
| IndyCar Series career | |||||||
| 47 races run over 4 years | |||||||
| Team(s) | No. 26 (Andretti Autosport) | ||||||
| 2019 position | 18th | ||||||
| Best finish | 15th (2018) | ||||||
| First race | 2017 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Barber) | ||||||
| Last race | 2020 Honda Indy 200 Race 2 (Mid-Ohio) | ||||||
| |||||||
| Previous series | |||||||
| 2013-2014 2016 2012 2010-2011 | Indy Lights U.S. F2000 National Championship Star Mazda Championship | ||||||
| Championship titles | |||||||
| 2011 2012 | U.S. F2000 Winterfest Formula Car Challenge | ||||||
Veach was named to CNN's list of "Intriguing People" in May 2010,[1] is the national spokesperson for FocusDriven, and released his first book, 99 Things Teens Wish They Knew Before Turning 16 on NBC's The Today Show on March 2, 2011.[2]
Veach began racing at age 12 when he was "discovered" by former IndyCar Series team owner Sarah Fisher's dad, Dave Fisher. In 19 months Veach had gone from go-karts to the cockpit of an open-wheel Formula BMW machine. Near the end of 2009, while testing a Formula BMW, Atlantic Championship team owner Eric Jensen signed Veach to his team for the 2010 Atlantic Championship season.[3] In early March 2010, the Series halted operations.[4]
In his first year as a driver in the U.S. F2000 National Championship for Andretti Autosport, Veach had 10 top-five finishes and four podium results. Despite entering the series after the season-opener (St. Pete) and therefore missing out on two rounds of race points, he managed to finish fifth in the driver championship point standings. His performances also contributed to Andretti Autosport securing the team championship for the 2010 season. He was also named a semi-finalist for Sports Illustrated's annual Sports Kid of the Year award.
On December 9, Andretti Autosport announced they had re-signed Veach to again compete in the USF2000 National Championship and WinterFest in 2011.[5]
In January 2011, Veach won the 2011 U.S. F2000 Winterfest – a winter race series held in Florida. Veach won two of the five races and won the title by six points over Andretti teammate Spencer Pigot.[6] Veach won the 2011 U.S. F2000 National Championship season opener at Sebring International Raceway. Veach finished fourth in series points.[7]
Veach made his Star Mazda Championship debut for Andretti Autosport at Infineon Raceway in August 2011. He also competed in the series' season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,[8] where he finished third. He competed in the full season for Andretti Autosport in the #77 car in 2012, finishing tenth in points with a best finish of third at Lucas Oil Raceway at Indianapolis.
Veach moved up to Indy Lights with Andretti Autosport in 2013. Veach led the most laps and finished on the podium in third at the Milwaukee Mile and won the pole at Auto Club Speedway on his way to seventh in points. He remained in the series and Andretti Autosport in 2014. He collected three wins and nine podiums in 14 races to end third in the standings behind Gabby Chaves and Jack Harvey. After sitting out of the 2015 season due to an injury which required hand surgery, Veach returned to Indy Lights in 2016 with Belardi Auto Racing.[9] After a rough start, where he suffered a mechanical failure while dominating the first race in St. Petersburg, he went on to collect 3 wins as well as several podium finishes throughout the 18 race season.
During his Indy Lights racing career, Zach finished in the top 10 in 43 of the 44 races he competed in, or 97.73%.[10]
He made his IndyCar Series debut at the 2017 Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama as a last-minute replacement driver for the injured J. R. Hildebrand.[11] Despite the short notice and a limited amount of time to become familiar with the car prior to the event, he managed to close the performance gap to teammate Spencer Pigot in each session, from 1.5 second behind in the first practice to 1.1 in the second, 0.8 in the third and just 0.5 in qualifying. Veach started 19th and ran as high as fourth in the race, after pitting off-sequence, before finishing in 19th place, the last car on the lead lap.[12]
Veach competed at the 2017 Indianapolis 500 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises,[13] placing 26th, when he retired on lap 155 with mechanical issues.
On September 11, 2017 it was announced that Veach had reached an agreement to drive Andretti Autosport's fourth IndyCar full-time for the 2018 IndyCar Series season. The contract was three years in length.[14]
On September 23, 2020, Andretti Autosport announced that Veach would be leaving the team ahead of the Harvest GP. [15]
For the 2021 season, Veach was signed by Vasser Sullivan Racing to drive a GTD-class Lexus RC at the IMSA SportsCar Championship, partnering with Frankie Montecalvo.[16]
Veach has been very outspoken about his interest in putting an end to distracted driving. On April 30, 2010, Veach attended the taping of The Oprah Winfrey Show's focus on the No Phone Zone program. At the program he met Jennifer Smith, founder and president of FocusDriven, the official beneficiary from Winfrey's No Phone Zone, and later became FocusDriven's national spokesperson. In May 2010, Veach campaigned to gain support from professional racecar drivers to support Winfrey's No Phone Zone.[17] Veach announced on June 4, 2010, he had added 33 Indy 500 drivers support of the No Phone Zone, including that of Danica Patrick and Hélio Castroneves, among others.[18]
In July 2010, Veach released an anti-texting app, urTXT, which automatically responds to a text message received by the phone.[19]
On September 21, 2010, Veach attended the 2010 National Distracted Driving Summit where he was honored by United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, in addition to the Jonas Brothers and Jordin Sparks for their collective efforts to put an end to distracted driving.[20]
Veach will star in the Indianapolis Opera's production of Gaetano Donizetti's comic opera Elixir of Love, to be held in November 2019.[21]
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Andretti Autosport AFS Racing |
STP 5 |
ALA 9 |
LBH 9 |
INDY 5 |
MIL 3* |
IOW 7 |
POC 4 |
TOR 7 |
MDO 5 |
BAL 8 |
HOU 10 |
FON 4 |
7th | 333 | ||||||
| 2014 | Andretti Autosport | STP 1* |
LBH 2 |
ALA 1* |
ALA 3 |
IND 9 |
IND 7 |
INDY 3 |
POC 2 |
TOR 5 |
MDO 4 |
MDO 2 |
MIL 1 |
SNM 7 |
SNM 3 |
3rd | 520 | ||||
| 2016 | Belardi Auto Racing | STP 16 |
STP 3 |
PHX 8 |
ALA 3 |
ALA 10 |
IMS 5 |
IMS 10 |
INDY 10 |
RDA 1 |
RDA 3 |
IOW 2 |
TOR 9 |
TOR 6 |
MDO 5 |
MDO 4 |
WGL 1 |
LAG 3 |
LAG 1 |
4th | 332 |
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Ed Carpenter Racing | Dallara DW12 | 21 | Chevrolet | STP | LBH | ALA 19 |
PHX | IMS | 33rd | 23 | [22] | ||||||||||||
| A. J. Foyt Enterprises | 40 | INDY 26 |
DET | DET | TEX | ROA | IOW | TOR | MDO | POC | GTW | WGL | SNM | |||||||||||
| 2018 | Andretti Autosport | 26 | Honda | STP 16 |
PHX 16 |
LBH 4 |
ALA 13 |
IMS 23 |
INDY 23 |
DET 12 |
DET 13 |
TXS 16 |
ROA 22 |
IOW 20 |
TOR 7 |
MDO 10 |
POC 6 |
GTW 5 |
POR 19 |
SNM 14 |
15th | 313 | [23] | |
| 2019 | STP 14 |
COA 22 |
ALA 12 |
LBH 17 |
IMS 12 |
INDY 29 |
DET 8 |
DET 8 |
TXS 20 |
RDA 18 |
TOR 13 |
IOW 7 |
MDO 21 |
POC 13 |
GTW 14 |
POR 22 |
LAG 18 |
18th | 271 | [24] | ||||
| 2020 | TXS 4 |
IMS 14 |
ROA 16 |
ROA 16 |
IOW 23 |
IOW 20 |
INDY 15 |
GTW 21 |
GTW 22 |
MDO 20 |
MDO 17 |
IMS | IMS | STP |
21st | 166 | [25] | |||||||
* Season still in progress.
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 32 | 26 | A. J. Foyt Enterprises |
| 2018 | Dallara | Honda | 25 | 23 | Andretti Autosport |
| 2019 | Dallara | Honda | 28 | 29 | Andretti Autosport |
| 2020 | Dallara | Honda | 17 | 15 | Andretti Autosport |
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
† Points only counted towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup and not the overall GTD Championship.
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